Wisconsin defensive end David Gilbert said during the week that Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez couldn't beat UW throwing the ball, in part because of his sometimes awkward throwing motion.

Martinez uncorked some ugly throws Saturday night and lost a fumble, after being sacked by Gilbert, that set up UW's final touchdown.

In the end, however, Martinez had the final word.

He used his arm and feet to bedevil UW's defense, which appeared to wear down in the second half as UW's offense stalled time after time.

Martinez led the Cornhuskers on four second-half scoring drives, two for touchdowns and two for field goals, to help Nebraska rally for the 30-27 victory.

The Cornhuskers rolled up 446 total yards and Martinez was responsible for 288. He completed 17 of 29 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 13 times for 107 yards and a touchdown.

Game, set and match to Martinez.

OFFENSIVE PLAY OF THE GAME

Nebraska was determined to stop UW's running game, and after tailback Montee Ball gained 2 yards on the Badgers' first offensive play Matt Canada called for a play-action pass.

Quarterback Joel Stave faked to Ball and lofted a 54-yard strike to wide receiver Jared Abbrederis to the Cornhuskers' 15.

The play-fake gave Abbrederis a one-on-one matchup with cornerback Josh Mitchell, who is listed at 5 feet 11 inches and 155 pounds.

Abbrederis shielded Mitchell from the ball and made the contested catch.

DEFENSIVE PLAY OF THE GAME

Trailing by three points in the final quarter, UW faced a fourth and 1 at its 49-yard line.

Ball, who rushed for three touchdowns, got the handoff from quarterback Danny O'Brien and started to his right.

Linebacker Alonzo Whaley shot in from Ball's left and made the initial contact. It appeared Ball didn't have a solid hold on the football when he was hit and the ball popped to the ground.

Safety Harvey Jackson scooped up the loose ball with 1 minute 11 seconds and ran out the clock.

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAY OF THE GAME

Nebraska entered the night first in the Big Ten in kickoff returns with a 25.5-yard average.

UW held Nebraska's Ameer Abdullah to returns of 11 and 13 yards on his first two chances.

Abdullah got UW on his third try, though, with the Badgers leading, 14-0, in the opening quarter.

The sophomore fielded Jack Russell's floating kick at his 4, broke through the first wave of UW defenders, got past Russell near the 40 and made it down the sideline to the UW 13 before he was shoved out of bounds by reserve defensive back Darius Hillary.

The play jump-started the crowd, but UW's defense doused the energy by holding the Cornhuskers to 4 yards and a 26-yard field goal by Brett Maher.

However, in the long run, those three points turned out to be huge.

INSIDE THE HUDDLE

Right guard Kyle Costigan suffered an apparent leg injury on UW's second offensive series. He came out and was replaced by Zac Matthias on Ball's second touchdown run. Costigan returned, however, and finished out the game.

UW went with a jumbo look early, with reserve tackle Robert Burge lining up as an extra tight end. UW also used an unbalanced line, with left tackle Ricky Wagner shifting to the right side next to tackle Rob Havenstein.

ESPN's GameDay crew, in East Lansing, Mich., for the Michigan State-Ohio State clash, picked Nebraska to take care of UW. Analysts Desmond Howard and Kirk Herbstreit both pointed to the struggles of UW's offense

"I think Wisconsin's offense right now, they're trying to find an identity," Howard said. "They don't know who they are right now. I like Nebraska by two scores."

Herbstreit added: "Wisconsin is one-dimensional. They're relying on running the football and it's not working for them on the road against a Nebraska defense that I think will be opportunistic tonight."

BY THE NUMBERS

27% UW's third-down conversion rate

56 Rushing yards for UW on its 41 attempts

90 Second-half yards by UW on 31 plays

288 Total yards by Nebraska QB Taylor Martinez

303 Second-half yards by Nebraska

QUOTABLE

"It's a 60-minute game. There are going to be momentum swings. You’ve got to stay the course. It is a fistfight."

Bo Pelini, Nebraska coach

UP NEXT

The UW players and coaches likely will talk all week about how much talent Illinois possesses. They'll say all the right things publicly. Talent or not, Illinois is a wreck under first-year coach Tim Beckman. The Illini were blown out at home by Penn State, 35-7, in their Big Ten opener Saturday. That came one week after they suffered a 52-24 home loss to Louisiana Tech.